A Day in the Life: Part I

Right off the bat, in the interest of full disclosure, let me assure you that I make no representation that the following is in any way indicative of an "average day." (Is there even such a thing?) Instead, the following is merely the story of one day.

The day started in the typical manner: the alarm went off, and I hit snooze. Today I really didn't want to get up. I was tired, and my back hurt--right in that one stupid spot where it always hurts ever since "The Incident." Of course, I did get up, and I went to my brother's for our morning workout.

I am not a morning person. As a non-morning person, "morning workouts" are minimal to say the least. We lift weights, but only a few selected exercises, which are all upper-body. I don't do lower body for a couple of reasons. First, I have no concern regarding my lower-body strength. I've always excelled at the lower-body lifts, and to be honest, if my legs can carry around the rest of me that's plenty good enough for me. Secondly, there aren't that many lower-body exercises that do not include back strength, which I tend to avoid so as to not aggravate the stupid spot.

Weight lifting for me right now is an exercise in personal humiliation. Today I started off strong, but that tapered pretty quick.

On a more standard day, after lifting I would go home and get ready for work. Today I don't have to go to work until a little later, so I decided to take a leisurely trek on the bike. (And I do mean leisurely--it was very slow. I'm not much of a morning person.)

But not before I ate a nutritious breakfast. I had cookies and milk.

Weldon Rd to Bridgeland Rd to Westfied Rd to McNair Rd to Swift St to Cunningham Rd to Kendall Rd to Edwardsville Rd to Weldon Rd - 14.9 miles

I started off rather dissatisfied with the whole thing. The stupid spot in my back was still acting up, and it was misting out. A full-blown rain probably would have talked me out of the thing altogether, but a little mist I can handle--with no great pleasure. The mist went away, but the cool air didn't. What happened to my summer? It never really got hot this year at all. But I digress.

You can never go wrong with a nice bike ride some place new. Today I saw a statue of an ear of corn. Seriously. The thing was probably thirty inches tall. It was ridiculous. I appreciate the fine art of concrete lawn decor, but that was...ridiculous.

Roadkill is a fact of life on a bicycling trip.

It's amazing how many times you will see a car going the other way, and then within minutes have it pass you going the same way. Do people really lack planning that much? I hardly ever do that. Crazy country folk.

I was totally planning on going twenty miles, but I got tired and lazy and quit at 15 (almost). Did I mention that I'm not really a morning person?

On to second breakfast: Cookie Crisp. Now, I know someone will say--probably not in a comment (chicken!) but to me personally--"Mike, how can you advocate health and fitness when all you eat is cookies?" You can eat cookies if you lift weights and ride your bike 15 miles before work. Try it.

Read Part II | Part III